Sarah Waterson

The possibility of using computers to create immersive virtual environments in which one can interact with others has excited the imagination for decades, particularly in science fiction works like William Gibson’s Neuromancer, films like TRON (1982), text-based games like Zork, MUDs (and their many variations), the holodeck in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and in networked adventure and first person shooter videogames, such as World of Warcraft and Quake. Generally, games allow a limited range of options for modification (“modding”) and limit the type of interactions, keeping players focused on the violent “shooting” aspect.